To stay ahead of the COVID-19 variant Omicron, Mark Servos, Water Institute member, biology professor, and Canada Research Chair in Water Quality Protection and his research team have begun monitoring municipal wastewater for the mutation.
Wastewater surveillance has stepped up in the region and Servos expects the new variant will be detected around the same time as clinical cases now that all samples are being tested.
“We’re hoping we never see it,” said professor Servos.
For now, Omicron cases are scattered and related to travel. Wastewater surveillance will pick it up once the variant starts to spread within the community and perhaps overtake Delta as the predominant strain.
“We’ll be able to verify the shift as it occurs,” Servos said.
Read about professor Servos’ latest surveillance in The Record article “Waterloo team looking for Omicron in wastewater” here.